Credit: Floro Azqueta
Shipping containers have a multitude of uses – from storing large items to homes like Embassy Village and pop-up kitchens such as former Manchester food hall Hatch, soon-to-be STACK – but what about an immersive experience? Known for their trademark shipping containers popping up across the UK and internationally that play host to mysterious and exciting experiences, DARKFIELD has now brought three of their most highly-acclaimed productions to Greater Manchester this September.
Credit: Secret Manchester
Located at three locations across Manchester and Salford, audiences can find themselves immersed in the supernatural, boarding a new airline, or navigating a war-torn world, across immersive experiences SÉANCE, FLIGHT, and ARCADE. Utilising striking sets inside shipping containers, binaural 360 degree sound, complete darkness, and sensory effects, where each participant is situated at the centre of intense, evolving narratives, boy, will you go on a journey.
Credit: Secret Manchester All of the DARKFIELD immersive experiences in and around Manchester
There are three different immersive experiences in shipping containers by DARKFIELD in and around Manchester, all of which run from Wednesday 10th September to Sunday 21st September.
Credit: Mihaela Bodlovic ARCADE
Fresh from sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, BFI London Film Festival, and an extended residency at Shoreditch Town Hall, DARKFIELD present their newest experience, ARCADE, at The Lowry in Salford. But this isn’t an ordinary arcade, and these are not ordinary arcade machines.
Using the nostalgic aesthetic of 1980s video games, ARCADE’s interactive narrative explores the evolving relationship between players and avatars. The choose-your-own-path experience aims to fully immerse players in different environments in a completely dark shipping container.
📍The Lowry, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ.
🎟️ Tickets cost between £13 and £15 and you can book ARCADE here.
Credit: Secret Manchester FLIGHT
Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, is hosting one of DARKFIELD’s most popular and critically-acclaimed experiences, FLIGHT. Over 30 minutes in total darkness, FLIGHT explores the Many-Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics, taking audience members through two worlds, two realities, and two possible outcomes to their journey.
📍The Undercroft, Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester, M3 4JQ.
🎟️ Tickets for FLIGHT cost between £12 and £15 (+ booking fee) and can be booked here.
Credit: Sean Pollock Photography SÉANCE
At HOME Manchester, DARKFIELD presents their first shipping container experience, SÉANCE. The interior of a 24ft container is transformed into a Victorian séance room, and asks audiences to believe not only what is happening inside the container, but also in what might be conjured up into the room with them.
SÉANCE premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017 and has since toured to acclaim both nationally and internationally, reaching 250,000 audience members across the world. SÉANCE returns to Manchester for the first time since 2018.
📍The Lowry, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ.
🎟️ Tickets for SÉANCE cost between £13 and £16.40 and can be booked here.
Credit: Secret Manchester
DARKFIELD return to Greater Manchester for the first time in seven years, thanks to touring fund support from Arts Council England. ARCADE at Lowry, FLIGHT at Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, and SÉANCE at HOME Manchester, will all be performing multiple times a day from September 10-21.